About Jeff Thomas

Jeff Thomas was born in Buffalo, New York and began his artistic journey after a near-fatal car accident in 1979, which led him to turn to the visual arts. He self-identifies as an “urban Iroquois,” as he strives to recontextualize the historical Aboriginal experience to have contemporary relevance. He uses curating and photography to confront stereotypes surrounding Aboriginal people, especially in the regions of Ontario and northern New York state.

Thomas has exhibited at numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Canada and the United States. Some of his ground-breaking curatorial projects that have researched issues of race, Aboriginality, and gender in both historical and contemporary photography include, Where Are the Children? Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools, National Archives of Canada, Ottawa (2002); and Emergence from the Shadows, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau (1998).

His work has been published through the Art Canada Institute (2023), University of Toronto Press (2008), and the Princeton University Press (1994), among many others. His work is held in the collections of various institutions including, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and the Museum of the American Indian, Washington. Thomas has been the recipient of numerous awards throughout his career including: The Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2019), REVEAL Indigenous Art Award (2017), and The Duke & Duchess of York Prize in Photography (1998). In 2003, he became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art.